Monday, August 31, 2009

Well, some of you may say that you rather be born in another place just because this soil is not as advanced as America, Korea, Japan and even Singapore. But at the end of the day, everyone will remember their hometown the most.

Despite the news of political drama, the govt decisions that are very disagreeable, the racism and the scarcities faced, I love this place. This is where I am born, and the place where I grow up and try to discover life.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Day 1 of the H1N1 "confinement" for the SOC students has already made me a lil sad, especially when it comes to communicating someone from Tawau besides my mum. Good luck, Elaine. Don't be a lazy bump and follow my advice okay? It's proven xD and I got 7As.

I considered today as my resting day, as I did not begin touching the other assignments.

Since this morning, I suddenly became nostalgic.

I missed the Chinese New Year reunion. It was a very fun week spending the days with the other ex-schoolmates.

I remembered taking some photos with my SE K530i phone which was not impressive at all. I could have borrowed my father's Panasonic Lumix cam for the open houses. haha.....

Here are some reminiscence, to my fellow 2006 St. Patrick graduates:

Comment: Miss YSS was the teacher whom I was most afraid of during my Form 4-5 days when I was under her Chemistry course. But that fear later disappeared as I began to know her more. :)

CNY pictures in random timeframe order through the lens of my K530i. Gosh! I never knew I would have a Nikon D80 after that.

I already heard voices regarding next year's CNY plans. I hope it will be another exciting and memorable week of happiness before I return here for my 2nd semester.

It's truly nostalgic.

By the way, I once thought of returning to SMSP for some photoshooting sessions. I wanted to write an article for the school's 2010 magazine. If any of you ex St. Patrick members are in Tawau this November-December period, please inform me.

And to those who are in their final year of SMSP now, would you send me some testimonials of St. Patrick? Thanks.

Monday, August 24, 2009

PETALING JAYA - 3 students and 1 lecturer were tested Influenza A(H1N1) positive in a college here.

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This is not The Star, NST, or whatsoever news ah! I'm just trying out lead (intro) writing in news reporting. :)

And yes, we're having a 1 week "holiday" beginning today! Some of you might say that it's a quarantine.

But to me, it's an opportunity to chase over our assignments. I had recently submitted my CRR summary this morning (1 am) and after that being altruistic towards others who are rushing against the deadline. I hope everyone submitted their summaries by now.

I hope the victims can survive this scary outbreak. H1N1 had killed 70 people here for now. So, seriously, to the other students, wherever you're from, do wear an appropriate face mask and bring yourhand sanitizersaround. And please! Do practice social distancing.

On the other hand, Mr. Chandra shared to us today that may shackle my decision to enter the newsroom for a journalists' career. Like the airport control tower, the newsroom is a very busy place, where people gather, edit and publish news on a very daily basis. Of course, stakes are very high in that office environment as newspapers nationwide are competing for sales and circulations day by day and they don't want to lose out.

It's really a stressful place. I don't want to work in such environments. I really have to do something to prevent myself from going there. I must do something, and I wanted to have financial freedom and no time constraint in my future.

He told us some experiences of a reporter:

"You have to cover an event and it will go up to 12 hours non-stop."

"Like the Anti-ISA rally. You have to cover it up from the beginning, till the police comes, the tear gases, the riots, UNTIL it's all over."

"For example, you have to cover an accident. You must interview everyone significant, witness the whole thing until everything's over."

"The worse case is when you are reporting from the court. You'll be hearing whatever people interact in the court FOR THE WHOLE SESSION."

I know that sounds very sien. I mean the court case larr....

"Sometimes you need to be in a police operation. The officer may say, "we will hide here, and then we ambush". But sometimes, nothing happen."

And this one is a pain on my ass....

"Photographers, they must have great techniques to shoot photos, especially in court. Let's just say that a suspect was convicted of rape and murder and you shoot your camera directly at his face and he suddenly fight you back."

"Even you got a telescopic lens, your shots will not be very nice."

Tell you what, one of the sidearm reasons I take Journalism is to enter the education field. I did thought of being an English lecturer, but first I have to be a teacher. I teach, and I will carry on a Master's Degree and later on a PhD. It's not stressful as what's in the newsroom, but the stakes remain.

P.S - I know for 4 consecutive posts, there are no photos. Since the "holidays" are here, be ready for new posts with lots of photos. xD Stay tuned :)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Have you ever encountered such conversations in your daily lives? For sure, most of you do.

Let's go straightforward to the point as the title suggests.

Of course, God (or mother nature, for freethinkers) made us to be social animals. We are designed to interact with one another, and thus, we're all connected. Agree?

But, then, look at all around us. Are we really that social? (Social as in caring)

Really, you'll be bumping into people who are self-centered, people who only care about their self-interests. For their own will, they are willing to hurt others. Worse, they choose to backstab, hiding their daggers behind their motivated smiles.

The truth is, the world we are living in makes us individualistic. We wanted to care for others, but this environment doesn't encourage us to do so. When we look at a beggar, we may think, either we want to help him as a whole, or just assuming that his "costumes" are just a fraud to make you give.

Same goes to those who feel depressed and hurt.

I am sure that each and everyone of us are designed to have emotions. And thus, everyone wants to express ourselves as accurate as we can. People who listen to rock music that makes them feel the "urmmppphhhh" are actually similar to those who listen to sentimental music. Everyone wants to express themselves better, time by time. Sometimes, they expressed wrongly and that caused miscommunication.

It's pathetic to label others who need emotional support as weak. In fact, no man is an island. It doesn't matter where people seek emotional support from, either from their closest companions, religion, or even going online, people do need emotional support.

I'd went through some blog articles regarding this topic and decided to blog about it. Now, back to business.....

Friday, August 21, 2009

You may see my recent "favourite" phase around Twitter, Facebook and even here. Yeah! The phase "Now is definitely now". It means, this is NOW, face it.

And when you are in this NOW-Ness, you are engaged in a situation - an agreement within human communication, and the compromising rendezvous of human behaviours within that environment.

And right behind that, comes a set of rules or norms you have to abide.

Obviously, in a situation, you may either be neutral, advantageous, or disadvantageous.

What if you are in a disadvantage position, what if the unspoken rules around that situation are threathening you?

How will you deal with it? Will you retaliate? Or you just walk across it?

We are all trying to wake ourselves up, telling that we are facing NOW. And as we are trying to experience NOW, comes many stuffs that makes us feel threathened and unconfident about what we are feeling about NOW, specially when we are under the disadvantage point.

And thus, some of us choose not to face the fact. Instead, we borrow the past, and invite the future.

We choose to remember the happy times yesterday, and hope things will change tommorow. And it's an ongoing process. It continues, until your end of days.

This is life.

This is real life.

P.S - I hope you understand what I'm typing. But sorry, for this is one random post from me. Currently doing CRR, and the summary is actually harder than what Ms. Natasha said.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

As you guys are waiting for updates, enjoy these clips that I'd watched while planning on assignments.

NOTE: REMEMBER TO PAUSE THE MUSIC BEFORE WATCHING THEM. THE MUSIC MENU IS LOCATED BELOW THE BLOG TEXTS.

Just to share to you some 15Malaysia project films.

Yeah, that featured the controversial singer, Namewee.

Besides, this is from the late Yasmin Ahmad, "Chocolate". :)

I would like to say that there's one meaning inside that short clip. When that Chinese guy drop that 20 cent Cadbury chocolate candy for her after the Malay girl left (obviously that''s Sharifah Amani). I can see a meaning.

Well, a typical Chinese family wants their children to archieve the best in education. Parents, including mine, would like their children to leave their homes to find new hope in a "better" place.

You can see them among us. When we are from KL, we wanted to go study in Australia, England, etc. As for us in Tawau, most of us choose to study either in Kota Kinabalu, or Kuala Lumpur (here).

Now, for the candy giving part, it shows that even though from the surface 2 different races felt awkward when they meet each other, deep inside there is a sense of compassion and caring among them.

That is the reason why I admire Yasmin Ahmad a lot ever since she produced Sepet. She's able to send meaningful and eye-opening messages through her films.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Editor's Note:If you had read this post before 11am, take notice that I'd went through the whole page for mistakes. I'm sorry about the "Boys' Toys" mistake to those who saw it. I wanted to say that boys have their own stuffs, while girls' have their own. There would be misunderstandings if I use the term "Boys' Toys".

At the afternoon of August 14, the 3rd one came. This time it was with Cayenne, Hui Hwa, Pang Yih Fui, Fang Yee, Kah Kee and Tony.

What made this gathering special to me is:

1. First time "covering" a gathering with my DSLR cam. At least I'd improved from that orientation night photo fiasco.

2. I'd never seen Tony for AGES!

3. I want to see Koh's new hairstyle. I did heard that she cut her hair during her return to KL last month. And yeah, she's still attractive with it. Fadhlan, you jangan salah tafsir ah. keke.....

4. I can finally skate as fast as Cayenne on the ice xD.

Before I continue:

Portrait of the Day

Trying to capture a perfect portrait of Hui Hwa before everyone leaves. Spent 3 hours on editing it, and another 1 hour on the colours. Well, this version is actually the newer version than the one you guys saw in Facebook. I brightened up the colour here. Compared to the Facebook one, this photo is more yellow-ish, as it matches her skin more.

That was just an impromptu portrait anyway, but the pic seemed to turn out that well.

And thanks, Hui Hwa for being a great model.

Not everyone arrived early that day. I went there first @ 1 pm just to get something for my camera. My monitor cover needs to be replaced, so I got myself a crystal seal for my monitor.

And I managed to take some pictures while awaiting them...

See...I'd learned my lessons xD

And later I met Koh and Cayenne@ Blue Atrium. They got their cash for some early shopping, which I have no choice but to follow them.

You know what? This week, almost 80% of the people whom I interact are girls. And yes, I had been going out with them for 2 straight days. Following a group of girls doing their shopping isn't a very fun thing. Patience is really needed for it.

And the worst part is - you can't slide into their conversations, unless you are expertised in cosmetics, fashion, jewellery, etc.

Like it or not, these are girls' stuffs. When they like handbags, lipsticks, eyeliners, Luis Vitton, Jimmy Choos and Estee Lauder/ Maybelline/ MAC, we like Apple, DotA, CounterStrike, BMWs, Lamborghinis, or even condominiums.

Okay, cut the crap. The main point is - girls are girls, okay? I did not say I don't like girls. They are adorable, pretty, and randomly creative (E.g camwhoring under unexpected situations), I should say. And do respect them, because they make your day - ALWAYS :) That includes your mum.

Yen Ching with the dress that she tried. She looked like Amber Chia in this picture, agree? :)

And later on, we went to find Shim Kah Kee and her boyfriend, or should I say, my long lost friend, Tony Lau. Both of them are from UTAR with Khoo Chun Yi (hopefully my judgement is correct) and they are now in their Advanced Diploma programme in Accounting.

And when we gathered, the girls continued their shopping and Tony was finding his belt. Somehow around 3.20 pm, Fang Yee arrived.

And the 4 are finally united. They called themselves 4ever Friends. I called them the Fantastic Four.

From left: Kah Kee, Hui Hwa, Fang Yee, Cayenne (Yen Ching).

And even though they had drifted apart, their relationships remained fervent. 2 months ago, they gathered together for a tour in Penang. I was thinking of editing this into a lomograph. But, see how I will manage my time larr...

We began to go skating around 5 pm. But when we arrived at the gate, the ice was under resurfacing process. And it took so long for the job to be done. =.= swt.

But nevermind the havoc. The fun remained continued. Well, the photos here were from Kah Kee'sSE K810iand Cayenne's Canon Powershot SX200 IS which shoots like an EOS 500D. lol...Mind if I borrow some of your pictures?

From the white gloves, clockwise:

Shim, Tony, Me, Fang Yee, Koh, and Yen Ching.

Hui Hwa and I. This one is taken by Cayenne, happily :)

From left:Hui Hwa and Fang Yee.

I must be very shocked when she pointed her cam at us..

Tony and his "bad boy" pose. He's good in ice skating as well.

Koh as she's changing her shoes. Speaking of shoes, I hope everyone's fine without a blister.

During the skate, as usual, Cayenne, Fang Yee and I were fast skaters, just that we fell more when compared to the previous one. Shim did well in balancing herself, while Hui Hwa was a very quick learner. Tony is adequate enough to skate, but you will see him helping Shim a lot. A good bf, I should say xD

We all left around 10pm right after I took KHH's portrait. Hui Hwa, you should be happy that your photo at least went success. I tried a portrait on Fang Yee once somewhere in the Marrakesh section, but failed. No external flash to help me larr... :(

Looks like everything's done. But time does really moving fast, it's been 3 years since we left our high school life. We'd been discussing about a reunion, but it's getting harder and harder to realize it.

But, since we are all connected, I believe that a 2nd complete reunion will be a reality.

Friday, August 14, 2009

From a moderate level, it's a good thing to have unspoken rules in a society/community/group. That is to ensure welfare among the members, etc.

But, what if there are too many rules to follow? You can't do this, you can't do that.

I have a life to live. I have my own rights to choose. I have my own will to move on, as long I have a life purpose to pursue.

I know you treat me well. But, it's time for me to leave the cage. I want to be more independent.

And I want to learn as much as I can within this 3 years of tertiary education, OUTSIDE AND INSIDE THE LECTURE HALL.

You and I have different philosophies, different viewpoints, and different mindsets about life. But please, for heaven's sake, allow me to find an identity/status for my future. Because I will be taking care of you during your retirement days.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

You were pampered, you were being to school, you graduated from college, got your first degree and BOOM! Welcome to the real world.

There are so many choices ahead, but little do the education system teaches you what you really want to be. As a result, you go ahead with the flow and get a job. You earned a living, and yet, your savings grow slowly. You'd been wondering, why some people are able to make a breakthrough to be rich.

Robert Kiyosaki had an answer. And he wrote many books to explain about the choices.

One of them is "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".

But first, allow me to introduce the board game which I'd played this Sunday.

I played this board game which is called"Cash Flow" in Jalan Maharajalela with a group of friends. (Mind the liquidfy effects, just testing xD)

As you see the picture, the board resembles a monopoly-like platform. However, you are to play in 2 different level. One being the "Rat Race" circle where the game begins, while the second one being the "Dream" round. Whoever had enough passive income over his/her expenses will proceed to the outer circle and the game ends when the player reaches the dream.

Every player was given a rat mark and a "cheese". We are told to put our "cheese" on our desired goal in the outer circle. I choosed the dream of charity.

And next we were given cards to pick from. Here, every card resembles the player's chosen occupation with the chosen expenses and incomes he/she has in the game. I got the card that gives me the job of an Architect. I had high income, but at the same time, dealing with high expenses.

The game began with the Rat Race. You will proceed through possibilities of liability problems, opportunity and misfortunes. To increase difficulty, there are slots for players to lose 2 rounds (if unlucky), a "chance" for players to had their expenses increased when they got "children".

The game continued for 2 hours, and Cheong Xiao Tim can be considered the winner as he exited the Rat Race first.

As for me, I only managed to turn my beginning $ 4190 to $ 16000+ and yet I still stuck in the Rat Race.

Now, to explain the game, watch this clip.

Ever since I read some bits of his book, I began to have a different understanding about this world. Going to college is nothing wrong, it's one of the choices to be successful in life. Nevertheless, being employed means that there's something else bigger required to live a better life.

The board game also made me think twice about assetsand liabilties

Currently thinking of investing in 1Malaysia right now by the way. I am 20 years old and it's time for me to start generating incomes.

Cash Flow basically tells you the importance of investing. If you want to learn more about the game and Robert's other ideas, just click here.

I recommend this game for everyone who wishes to learn how to manage his/her money better. It's truly a game of life where everyone learns the right stuffs.

Overall, when I looked at the pictures and reviewed it myself, I know that it's not impressive, but at least it's a good try. Lol...so many digital noise going on the photos.

Lessons learned:

1. I forgot to calibrate ISO. It was too high for a mode at night (ISO 3200). And that explained the digital noises in the photos.

2. Through those trials and errors, I just learned the art of colour editing via Photoshop.

3. Flash + White Balance = Colour flaws.

4. Light exposure. :(

Sorry if I disappointed all of you :) But at least I know what I'd learned from this "mistake".

Next part:

SWINE FLU MANIA

I received this message from this week's sermon:

We are living in the midst of a pandemic of Influenza A (H1N1). The situation is getting worse. It was initially thought as non lethal but the huge number of Influenza A(H1N1) related deaths do paint a different picture. Though we are advised not to be panicky, we need to take extra precaution to reduce the possibility of contacting such virus.

- Handshaking at the ministry of Sharing Peace may not be neccessary at this period.

- Members who have cough or cold and flu-like symptoms are encouraged to stay at home and to avoid attending church for that Sunday.

- dispose tissue papers properly after used.

We need to be good stewarts of God. There's a 2 prong action we all should take:

1. We should avoid catching the H1N1 virus ourselves.

2. We should not help spread H1N1.

Therefore we must keep to the personal hygiene expectation.

Gosh! Even the church issued such orders? Nothing weird actually - it began in New Zealand a few months ago.

Recently, a Hospitality student was tested H1N1 positive and his classmates were quarantined.

And more recently, the Malaysian H1N1 death toll had reached 18(The Star Online).